The New Normal
by Persona75
Summary: Arla was thrilled with her new life as a Smasher. She finally was free from her old miserable life. Now she has to deal with a whole new one filled with unpredictable events always around the corner. What has she been up to with the other Smashers? Let's find out. (Open for Requests)
1. Requests Open

**The New Normal: Open for Requests**

Hey y'all, it's persona75 back at ya again. I had a couple of requests that want to see Arla's new life in the Smash Brothers. These will be One-Shots of some interesting events that you guys can come up with. To enter a story idea, please review in this format:

Story Title:

Summary:

Rules:

Must be mature for all ages

No OCs allowed

You are only allowed 3 characters max for special guest stars (give brief summaries on them because I might not know them)

I'll be adding a few of my own stories myself. They may take a while to make since I have school, but I'll make this work. If you don't know who Arla is, then read my first story "The Power of a Voice" to find out about her back-story.


	2. Fitting In

**The New Normal**

"**Fitting In"**

"You ain't stoppin me with your little team!" Combustus yelled as he unleashed a barrage of lasers from all sides. Arla dodged several laser blasts with ease. Currently, she, Pit, Ness, Roy, and Snake were assigned to a mission to take care of some guy called Combustus, who was a Mii Brawler with a mech suit as big as Galleom, in New Pork City. (Lame name I know) It's been a couple of months since Arla joined the tournament. Even though the Subspace Reign was over, it doesn't mean criminal activity was gone forever. Arla was still getting the hang of fighting bad guys with others.

Pit swooped down and sliced parts of the mech's arm which left minimal damage. Snake pulled out his moving-missile launcher and direct it to the back. Combustus saw this and grabbed it, swinging the missile towards Roy who was ready to hit him from above with his sword. He put his sword in front of him in time to be knocked back to the ground. Arla found a vital point in between the arms and went for it, but so did Ness.

"PK Fi- woah!" Ness saw Arla go in front of him at the last second, but he already launched PK Fire which hit Arla from behind. Recovered quickly enough to see the foot of the mech right over her, and she immediately grappled her way out. "Arla don't be in my line of fire!" Ness yelled as he ran to the robot to hit it with his bat.

"Right, sorry." She activated her skates and rushed into the fight. Pit fought at close range with his arrows and was able to hit one of them at its knees making it fall. Arla jumped up and aimed her sword, newly named as Divine, on the back, and thrusted it at one of the joints at the arm and sliced it off.

"Hey! This mech cost me a fortune!" The Mii Brawler said. He switched his other mech arm, not sliced off, into an arm cannon and aimed at Arla. As it shot, she dodged, but it hit Snake who was about to activate a C4. He was thrown back, and he growled at Arla.

"Watch it!" Snake snarled. Arla looked back at him with an apologetic look then faced her opponent again. Ness used PK Freeze on the arm cannon. Pit came in straight after and fired at the ice, destroying it and the arm cannon inside. Roy came in glowing in a rainbow aura.

"Let's finish this with style." Roy unleashed his Final Smash, Critical Hit, his is similar to Marth's but with a lot more fire. Once in range of whatever's left of the mech, he sliced his sword down and tore apart the robot, leaving only Combustus there lying on the ground with his wounded body and pride.

Seeing that he was unconscious, they left for the police to take care of him. Once they arrived back at the mansion. They went their own separate ways to just hangout, spar, or get ready for a tournament. Arla decided to head to the backyard where the garden was. She enjoyed just looking at all the flowers for a nice breath-taker. She sat by Peach and Zelda who were chatting and sitting at a nearby bench after taking care of the garden. While it wasn't necessary, Peach preferred gardening as a hobby when she has no tournament matches. Zelda just came from having a match with Red and Ike.

"Hello, Arla. I see you're back from your latest mission. How was it?" Peach asked with a bright smile.

"Fine," Arla replied, trying her best to leave out any details as she looked out towards the garden.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Zelda said as she looked at Arla with a small smirk. "I know that face. Something else is on your mind. What happened during the mission."

"Nothing, only fighting some guy called Combustus and winning the fight as usual."

"But…" Zelda continued to egg her on.

"You aren't going to let this go, are you?" Arla turned her head to her to them with a deadpan look.

"Come on Arla, we're princesses," Peach mentioned adding to the conversation. "People lie to us daily. It's really easy to recognize when someone has a look of deceit whether for good or bad intentions."

"Fine. From this mission, from almost all my missions actually, whenever I'm fighting with a group, I'm never in sync with my team. Today, I was in Ness' line of fire, and I didn't realize that Snake was behind me when I dodged a laser from the mech suit. I'm sure they'll forget about it after some time, but this wasn't the only mission when I goofed up like that."

"We all make mistakes like that. Don't feel bad for just one small mistake," Zelda said.

"Well, that's the problem. It's not just one mistake, I haven't corrected it yet. Everyone else fights so well together, then there's me. I'm not yet used to working with others, and I don't even know where to start fixing it."

"There couldn't have been that many mistakes," Peach encouraged.

"The mission before this one with that guy called Blitz Burner with his whole body on fire, I missed a freeze blast which hit Sonic when he was in the middle of charging up a Spin Dash. Or that other time with that runaway blob experiment, I didn't see Kirby coming in with his hammer and accidentally kicked him into the blob. And the time when Crazy Hand decided to release Scarfies into the Mansion, I rounded most of them up with an earth attack, but it also trapped in Dedede, Bowser, and Wario inside as well."

"To be fair, they deserved it."

"Yes, but overall, I just don't know how to fight with others," Arla finished, her face in her hands in stress.

"You just need to know everyone better, that's all," Zelda answered. "From what I've seen from your daily routine, you simply get ready for the next day like most of us, train by yourself in the gym, go to tournament matches or missions, take a couple of breaks, go back to training, then hit the hay. After that, the cycle starts over again."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Just do stuff that you don't often do or haven't done in a while. You might meet up with people, chat for a bit, and you know, just socialize."

"…Ok…," Arla replied hesitantly, still unsure of what she meant. She got up and waved goodbye. She wandered around thinking of unlikely things she hasn't tried yet.

_"I could always try doing archery again," _Arla thought and made her way to the shooting range. There she saw Link, Wolf, and Mario shooting targets with their bow/gun. They saw her come and were slightly surprised since she doesn't go there often or rather at all.

"It's not like you to be here, Arla," Link commented, keeping his eyes on the target and kept firing.

"Let's just say I wanted a change of pace," Arla said as she picked up a spare bow. Then, she saw Mario using a gun to fire, which piqued her curiosity. "I didn't know you had an interest in firing a gun."

"I do. Seeing that so many use one, I thought I would try one for myself. I already know how to use a bow anyway."

"Is Wolf teaching you or are you self-teaching yourself?"

"Like people will think I'd be willing to teach?" Wolf growled.

"Are you willing?" All three of them stopped firing after hearing such a simple question. Link and Mario turned to Wolf wondering what his answer would be.

"Nobody asks me," he replied bluntly as he was about to retake aim.

"Can you teach me?" The two heroes in the room stared at her in surprise. "I've only ever known how to use the bow." Wolf turned to her with a blank stare, and Arla didn't flinch. He sighed and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Are you getting a gun or not?" Arla's look brightens up as she dropped the bow and grabbed a gun. Link became intrigued as well and decided to switch weapons as well.

"If she's trying it, then I might as well follow along," Link said as he took aim.

"Just try not to lag behind O' great Hero of Time," Wolf remarked. He turned back and saw Arla holding the gun with one hand. "Ah-Ah. Use both hands so the gun doesn't smack you in the face." Arla nodded and did what she was told. As she was shooting, she took Zelda's advice and tried to come up with a topic.

"So, what gave you interest in shooting in general?" she asked anyone in the room. Forty minutes later, the conversation started off from Wolf's story of just training to be a mercenary, to Mario having to learn how to shoot for the Olympics, to Link just training to be the savior of Hyrule, to Arla's interesting story. Though Arla's parents made her take archery, she did find some humor in using her skills for some nefarious pranks.

"…I find students walking passed my house with me on top of the roof. People were too lazy to look up. I had my bow out and ready when no one's around and just fired my egg-tipped arrows at them. You should've heard them freak out when they thought there was a sniper nearby." Arla finished as she finished shooting the last of her ammo. The three of them had their own way of laughing at that.

"Did they ever find out?" Link asked while snickering.

"Nope, they just never took that route again. Things got pretty boring in a matter of days."

"Is that why you're used to shooting by yourself?" Mario questioned.

"Kind of. Any type of activity I do I did by myself. I mean, you guys fight by yourself all the time right."

"While that is mostly true, I still have teammates on my end, no matter how much of an annoyance they can be. You must always recognize that there will always be someone around to be a target, intentionally or not. You need to trust in your peripheral vision," Wolf explained, leaning against the wall, indicating he's done.

"To be honest, the straightforward sight will become second nature the more you fight. Once that's down, that's when you need to focus more on what around you than in front of you," Mario added while he retracted his gun.

"I see. Thank you for the stories, and the advice." Arla smiled before leaving to find something else to try out. Wolf scoffed before leaving as well.

"You know, I've never seen that side of Wolf before," Link whispered to Mario.

"True, he's never been this open. I wonder what Fox will think of it."

"What you say?" Wolf yelled as he turned around to give them a death glare. His ears were sensitive enough to hear their comments.

"Nothing," they replied in unison. Wolf shrugged it off and went back to his room.


	3. Fitting In Part 2

**The New Normal**

"**Fitting In Part 2"**

Lucario and Arla have been playing chess for a while in the mansion's library. So far, this was their fifth game, and Lucario won all of them.

"Checkmate," Lucario stated as he moved his queen to the right spot, winning five in a row. Arla shook his paw for a good game, then she sighed as she leaned back on her chair and threw her hands behind her head. "I haven't had a challenge like that in chess for a while. Fox or Zelda would try to challenge me as well, but you were the closest to victory. What made you want to play?"

"I just felt like getting out some more," Arla responded, albeit cryptically.

"You want to know everyone better since you're still struggling in fighting with others," Lucario figured out easily.

"Am I that obvious just because I'm getting out of my room more?!"

"Sort of, Zelda and Peach told me when I asked why you were acting differently today. I passed by the shooting range and found you firing a gun, with Wolf of all people teaching you. I didn't even know he can teach."

"I've been trying to change my routine. Zelda suggested that maybe by me knowing everyone and knowing what they focus on in a fight, I can predict what they might do and not get in the way."

"So, why did you want to play chess if you wanted to learn how people fight?"

"Maybe to sharpen my mind I guess. I honestly don't know why."

"Well, if you want to learn how I train, this is how I learn." She looked down at the board with most of her pieces out of the game. "How does chess help in a fight?"

"Despite it being a game, chess is like a simplified version of a battlefield. You recognize all of your pieces and you focus on where they all are on the battlefield. The different moves of each piece represent the different skills each fighter has. Though they have different abilities, they have the same goal, just like the Smashers' goal defeating crime in Smash World. And a lost piece is like not seeing them in battle or having them block a hit for someone else to strike."

"That explains why you're good at chess. I haven't thought of it like that, interesting." She got up from her chair and stretched after sitting in a chair for about five hours. "Alright, I think I'm gonna try some other unlikely stuff. Any ideas?"

"I think there are some Smashers in the gym, maybe you can play some sports."

"Ok, thanks." Arla rushed out to the gym to see some Smashers doing something. Ike was lifting some weights, Falcon was on a treadmill at Mach 3 speed, Ganondorf was doing pull-ups, and Bowser was lobbing sandbags back and forth with DK. Then, she saw Sonic, Pit, Fox, Ness, and Roy in the dodgeball training course, but the dodgeballs were more like tennis balls and made of more durable material. She often liked going to that training room to test her agility, but she usually did it by herself. Soon, the course stopped and they all took a break. Ness saw Arla at the entrance.

"Yo Arla! You want in?" the PSI kid asked as he waved. She nodded in response and entered the room. The one minute break was over and started the next course, this time much faster and with Arla in it. Arla dodged with ease, doing several cool tricks to dodge all the projectiles just like everyone else. Fox and Sonic had it easier with their speed. Ness' size gave him somewhat of an advantage, and he used his bat to knock away some of them. Roy and Pit, staying on the ground, decided not to use their blades, but they still got hit a bit more than everyone else. Aa Arla kept dodging, she didn't see Sonic in front of her running at normal speed.

"Arla, look out!" The assassin-ninja flanked out of the way in time, but accidentally tripped and got hit in the arm and stomach. She quickly got back up and continued, skating this time. She was looking up at the launchers on the ceiling, but she was so focused on them that she didn't see Pit running in her path. She crashed into him which led to Ness, who was right behind Pit, getting crushed under their weight. Sonic, Fox, and Roy stopped to see what happened, but the dodgeballs kept firing and hit everyone a couple of times. That ought to hurt a bit.

"Stop the trial!" Roy yelled which stopped the launchers from firing. Pit and Arla slowly got up which allowed Ness to catch his breath.

"I'm really sorry," Arla said as she helped Ness up.

"Arla, what's up with you? I've seen you a couple of times be in here, and you've never been this bad at dodging," Fox questioned. Arla looked around and saw everyone give her a worried look. She sighed and began to explain.

"That's the whole reason I did it with you guys. Fox, you've only seen me train by myself. I thought I could do just as well with others, but apparently not. I keep forgetting who is near me, despite me knowing that they are around me."

"That's what it's always like in battle," Roy said. "Sometimes your eyes are so focused on one target that you forget everything else around you. You'll soon realize that you can't always rely on your eyes to see everyone."

"So, how can I learn to sense everyone?"

"I have an idea." Ness pulled out a random piece of cloth and tied it around Arla's head like a blindfold. "I use this when I practice with my PSI, but this should do. You this to heighten your hearing skills. Hear our footsteps, our movements, our powers being released. We'll try the course again, but this time, you'll only use your ears. Ok?"

"Alright." She got her skates ready as she heard everyone's footsteps, faint but precise in their location. Everyone was in position.

"Resume course!" The launchers reactivated. Arla listened to the projectiles aimed at her. She didn't do as much movement as before, but she was still able to dodge them all. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She didn't know who, but she knew they were about to cross her path. She skated off her course to move around the person but got hit a couple of times. Despite getting hit by most dodgeballs, she was able to avoid the fighters in the training room, but she had to turn off her skates since she tripped more than she thought. Soon, the course was over. Arla removed her blindfold and saw herself with more bruises than she thought.

"That went a lot better. Nice job Arla," Pit complimented.

"Yeah, it did. We should do this more often," Arla admitted while rubbing some of her wounds.

"Probably, maybe we should all try this again with blindfolds," Ness suggested.

"That's a bit of a stretch, Ness," Roy said.

"I'm off to get max tomatoes to heal these, bye guys." Arla walked to the infirmary after waving goodbye. She saw Mario in his doctor's uniform reorganizing the medicine cabinet.

"Hello again Arla. Did you need something?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a few max tomatoes to help me heal." Dr. Mario analyzed her.

"From the looks of it, you might need more than a few. Use a fairy bottle instead." The doc opened a jar in which a fairy flew out and circled Arla to heal her. "So, mind telling me where you got all those injuries?"

"Sure, I was training with Pit, Ness, Pit, Roy, and Sonic in the dodgeball room, blindfolded."

"Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to learn how to sense others around me so that I don't crash into anyone. Ness suggested that I would learn faster when I sharpen my hearing skills. It sort of worked, but I know I can do better than that."

"I see. Okie dokie, you're all healed up."

"Thanks, see you in the morning." Arla raced off once again. She realized that she stayed up later than usual, skipping dinner as well. She entered her room and instantly slumped on her bed, feeling more tired than usual.

*Next Day*

Arla woke up, looking at the sunrise with all its glory. After a few morning stretches, she walked to the cafeteria with a sense of relief and soothe. She went for her usual coffee and sat by Zelda, Peach, and Samus. All three of them were surprised to see Arla with such a content and confident look.

"You look happy, did something happen?" Samus asked, then ate her scrambled eggs.

"Never better. You were right Zelda, I did need to interact with others." Arla chugged her coffee extremely quick, then rushed over to the tournament schedule board. The three women were dumbfounded.

"You're… welcome," Zelda replied, still in a state of shock.

_"A partner battle with Mewtwo against Bowser and Falco in New Pork City. One stalk each, ok,"_ Arla thought, staring at the board. She ran over to the battle simulator and saw all three competitors waiting there. Mewtwo nodded at his partner, and she gave a thumbs up. Then, they entered the simulator to New Pork City, and the countdown started.

3

2

1

GO!

Mewtwo warped over to Bowser, and Arla skated towards Falco. The ace-pilot got his gun ready, but Arla used her grapple to take it out of his hands. She got her katana out and was ready to slice him. Falco slid right under its blade matrix style and kicked her in the back of the head and got his weapon again. Arla got up and threw her metal fans. Falco guarded only to get sliced by Divine a couple of times straight after. He used his illusion trick to get right in front of her and swiftly kicked her. Then, she realized she was back-to-back with Bowser on a different platform.

_"Mind your surroundings," _she reminded herself. She saw Falco ready to do his flame move, but she jumped out of the way fast enough which made him hit Bowser, who stopped charging up his fire breath. As King Koopa was about to turn around, Mewtwo warped in front of him and swung his tail in his face. Arla rolled out of his direction to see Bowser almost hitting Falco had he not activated his guard on time. She saw Falco coming at her again. Arla was about to strike until she heard Mewtwo behind her charging up a Shadow Ball, but she wasn't exactly sure. She took a deep breath and remembered what Wolf said.

_"Trust your peripheral vision." _She turned her head ever so slightly and saw a hint of purple. Once Falco jumped and was close enough, Arla took one step to the left and let Mewtwo fire. Falco was launched off the stage but recovered with his flame move. As he was getting up, Bowser ran towards Arla with a charged up fist of flames. The psychic Pokemon appeared in front of her in time with a charged up fist as well in his own way.

_"We have different roles but the same goal," _Arla thought, rephrasing what Lucario told her. The fist collided which created a standstill between the two, and Arla saw her chance to strike. She double-jumped over Mewtwo and used her grapple to get ahold of Bowser's shell and swung him over behind Mewtwo. Now, the Pokemon and assassin-ninja were back-to-back with both of the opposing teammates surrounding them. They looked at each other at the corner of their eyes and nodded before charging at their swapped opponents.

Bowser would've slammed his fist to Arla if she hadn't jumped out of the way in time. She sliced behind his shell, but he didn't flinch. "Come on, girly. You should know by now that your little sword only tickled," Bowser boasted as he hit Arla from behind with both legs. Arla flew off the stage but recovered thanks to her grapple.

_"If that's the case, then I better switch to Razor Mode." _Divine's outer rim glowed cyan as well as the lining designs on Arla's fingerless gloves. This time when she attacked, Bowser winced from the slices and had twice the amount of damage. Razor Mode was the upgrade Fox, Samus, and Falco added to her katana to slice through things that normal swords are too dull to cut through. With enough damage, Bowser was at death percentage. Arla sent a charged sword beam at him which launched him to the lower platform where Mewtwo and Falco were fighting.

"Heads up!" Mewtwo saw Bowser coming their way and grabbed Falco and tossed him to Bowser to stop his descent. When they stopped in midair, Arla and Mewtwo jumped towards them and down-kicked both of them into the void.

GAME!

The winner is: Arla and Mewtwo!

They exited the battle simulator. Bowser went off in a sulking manner, and Falco just walked off without another word.

"_Well done, Arla. I see that you have improved. In only a day nonetheless," _Mewtwo telepathically said.

"You knew also?" Arla asked.

"_How can I forget someone who blasted a sword beam at me during that one mission with Kirby to capture a blob experiment? I can tell that working with others was definitely not your strong suit."_

"I did better now, right?" she countered back quickly with embarrassment.

"_Perhaps, but there will always be room for improvement." _Without another thought, he warped away. When Arla saw no one around, she cheered, jumping up and down, but she instantly stopped when she saw Peach and Zelda again at the doorway.

"I have the right to cheer," Arla said, her face red in even more embarrassment. "Can we just go out for lunch and pretend that never happened?"

"Sure, why not," Peach replied with a smirk, Zelda covering her mouth as she giggled.


	4. Moveset Mayhem

**The New Normal**

"**Moveset Mayhem"**

It was currently midnight, and everyone was fast asleep except for the two Hands. Master Hand was giving his brother another lecture about trying not to cause any trouble which Crazy ignored since he's been given these all the time, even from some of the Smashers. Crazy Hand decided that it was a good idea to sabotage the battle simulator monitor, which keeps track of each smasher's damage ratio, stages, conditions in battle, and what skill set can be used to make an even brawl, out of 'curiosity'.

"Blah blah blah blah… is that clear?!" That was all Crazy heard from his point of view.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," was all the haywire hand said. MH rolled his imaginary eyes.

"What did you even do to it?" MH asked in a wild whisper.

"I don't know." This answer made MH's body slightly red in anger.

"Great, now I have to gather up the supplies to fix it…" MH looked at CH with uncertainty. "_Why am I going to do this." _"… (sigh) which means… you're in charge."

"Yes!" CH excitedly yelled in a whispered manner. MH gave another heavy sigh in an irritated tone.

"Ugghh, just tell the Smashers that brawls are canceled for today because you broke the simulator's monitor and that I'll be gone all day." Then, MH opened a portal to his 'personal workshop' to create the parts to fix the monitor and left. Once the portal closed, CH quietly floated back to his room with a mischievous thought in mind.

"_He didn't say that I didn't have to tell them about the simulator." _Crazy Hand was ready to make chaos.

*Next Morning*

It was a typical morning. Arla went over to the schedule board. She has a one-on-one match with Pit after a match with Mario and Link.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" A voice rang out louder than usual. CH popped in the cafeteria. Several Smashers mentally rolled their eyes, knowing that CH always enjoys making a grand entrance. "MASTER HAND HAS GONE SOMEWHERE TO A PLACE I TOTALLY TO NOT KNOW OF, AND I SHALL BE IN CHARGE OF THIS FINE ESTAB-"

"Skip to the point you loudmouth!" Wario interrupted with impatience as he continued to eat large amounts of breakfast food.

"(Ahem) I'm in charge today. No question? Ok, bye." CH disappeared in a flash. Arla sweatdropped but immediately shook it off and went to watch Mario and Link's battle before hers starts.

*Battle Simulator*

When Arla walked in, she spotted Pit waiting inside as well with eyes glued to the battlefield on the other side of the window. Apparently, he had the same idea and decided to watch the current battle. Both Smashers greeted each other with a nod before watching as the combatants appeared at Hyrule Castle. But what they saw surprised all the Smashers watching and participating in the match.

As Mario and Link got into their battle stances, the Hylian was reaching to pull out his sword only to find that it wasn't in his sheath but in Mario's hands as well as his shield and bow. Mario was shocked as well, especially when he saw Link's hands in flames. Link only noticed once he saw Mario's line of sight, and he shook his hands frantically, but it only went out once Link accidentally took out F.L.U.D.D. and sprayed water on his hands.

"Is this a glitch in the machine?" Link questioned once he learned how to put F.L.U.D.D. away and checked his hands for any more fire.

"Apparently, and knowing Crazy, he already knew," Mario answered with an unsurprised expression and gave a deep sigh.

"So, can I have my stuff back?"

"...Oh, right." Mario tossed the sword, shield, and bow to Link. Just Link was about to catch the items, they disappeared in a digital manner and reappeared in the plumber's possession once again. Both of them groan.

"Great, I can't have my stuff. You know what, I'll just stop the match." Link turned his com on since their wristwatches also count as their mobile controllers in battles in case they need to pause or stop matches. But, when he pressed the Cancel button on his com it glitched out. "What?" He tried to press it again but to no avail.

"I can't cancel it either," Mario said when he repeatedly pressed the Cancel button on his com as well but got the same results. They both turned to the viewing area and saw Pit and Arla watching in surprise to what was going on. While Mario and Link knew that Pit and Arla couldn't hear them from the other side of the glass, they waved toward them and gestured to their wrists that they wanted them to cancel the match from the outside.

From the outside, Arla understood what they were trying to say and motioned Pit to help her stop the match. As Pit looked at the controls he saw the Cancel button on the monitor and pressed it, but like the wristwatches, it glitched out and short-circuited straight after.

"Dang it, this thing is jammed too," Pit realized in frustration and lightly banged on the machine.

"But, it looks like the stock rejuvenator still works," Arla observed. She tried to alter the settings, but it froze and lagged whenever she tried. "Are you kidding me, it's stuck on three stocks."

"Just how broken is this thing?" Pit gripped his head. "So, what does this mean for them?"

"I think they have to finish the battle in order to get out," Arla concluded. She and Pit walked out to the viewing area again. They shook their heads to the plumber and elf boy saying they can't cancel the match. Pit moved his lips silently to word to them that they have to finish the fight. Mario and Link looked at each other and nodded, yet Arla and Pit were confused on what that meant to them.

"Are they going to flip a coin for who will lose or…" Suddenly they got into their battle stances.

"Nope, they're going to duke it out. This ought to be interesting." Arla watched with amusement as Mario and Link fought with each other's skills.

After ten minutes, the Smashers that fought were able to exit the simulator with Mario as the victor, and they both shook hands.

"That was an interesting fight," Mario commented.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you were able to use my gear so well," Link said.

"That means my Olympic skills paid off," Mario remembered the fencing and archery events he participated in. Arla and Pit entered and saw Mario and Link waiting at the teleporter. "Are you two next up to fight?"

"We were, but with that glitch, we'll just tell Crazy Hand about it and hopefully cancel the rest of the matches," Arla answered.

"We'll come with," Link offered. Before all four Smashers made their way to MH's office where CH likely is, Link spotted the countdown on the battlefield monitor for the next match that was programmed in the schedule for today. It said that Arla and Pit's match was up in fifteen seconds. "Maybe, you two should have your brawl. Yours is up right now."

"With those bugs, no way!" Pit exclaimed. "Besides, it's not like that thing will force us to battle." Unfortunately, once the timer was up, the two Smashers up next to battle teleported away and appeared in the simulator and the stage changed to Battlefield. Pit had Divine, metal fans, and grapples on his wrists while Arla had Palutena's Bow and Pit's wings.

"You just had to say something didn't you." Arla sent a glare to the now wingless angel.

"So, you want to flip a coin and-" Pit tried to find an easy way out of this, but Arla already began to aim at Pit with an Arrow of Light. "Oh come on! Seriously!?"

"Well, considering my luck in a coin toss usually sucks, and the fact that this battle will go into our official battle scores, yes, I'm serious."

"Fine." Pit was about to rush forward but suddenly fell as if he slipped on something. He looked down at his feet and saw a pair of rollerblades on him. "Oh, that's right, you use skates to dash." He figured out how to put them away and got back up. "Ok, for real this time." Arla gave a firm nod before she and Pit charged at each other with sword and bow ready.

Arla shot an arrow straight at Pit which stuns him then took a few flaps and shot from above. Then, she split the bow and was ready to slice him. Pit quickly sidestepped in time and slash Arla with a sword beam.

"You only had my powers for a minute and you already know what you're doing," Pit commented and threw both fans at her.

"I could say the same thing about you." She dodged both of them with ease and charged at him. She put the bow together again and rapidly spun the bow in front of her, hitting Pit multiple times off the edge. Pit double-jumped back up but got hit by another arrow and fell into the void, losing a stock.

He reappeared and charged once again. He managed to get two slices and knocked Arla back to the ledge as well. Arla quickly flew up then noticed the incoming sword beams and air-dodged them quickly. She landed with a roll, but as she got up, she stumbled from the wings distracting her. This was Pit's opportunity and he used the fans again, tripping her. He hit her off the ledge and down-kicked her to the void which made her lose a stock. But Pit, forgot that he was also off the ledge and was closed to the void. He tried to activate his wings, and somehow, he was able to fly up.

Suddenly, Pit remembered that he didn't have his wings. So, how did he get back up to the platform without activating his grapple? He looked behind him and saw wings… made of water? When Arla rematerialized, she also saw what Pit did.

"How did you do that?" Arla asked, surprised.

"Maybe it was from your sword. You said it has elemental abilities," Pit deducted.

"But, MH limited my sword so no abilities from Divine can be activated except for my sword pulses and Razor Mode."

"Must be another glitch. I'll try to not use it too much." Pit shook it off and charged at her once again.

After a few minutes, both of them were reduced to one stock at high damage and were panting heavily.

"Time to end this," Pit said as he activated Razor Mode. As he tried to attack, Arla constantly dodged, for she knew that Razor Mode would eventually run out, even outside of the brawls. Once it did turn off, Arla saw her chance and was about to finish him off. Pit flinched once he saw her coming in hot, but that caused him to activate another new power. Lightning bullets appeared and rained down hard on Arla which gave her enough damage to send her flying to the blast zone and to lose her last stalk.

The winner is: PIT!

Both of them walked out of the simulator with their abilities back to their respective owners. Arla said nothing else and walked straight out.

"Hey, hold up!" Pit tried to get her attention but she was already gone and Mario and Link went up to him straight after. He decided to hold off talking to her and asked about CH. "So, what did he say?"

"He just told us to deal with it, but the least he decided to do was not put these battles on our official scores," Mario answered.

"Guess that's not so bad," Pit commented, but he still felt guilty as he looked down in shame.

"Is something up? It's not like you to be this down after any match." Link questioned.

"Well, I did win the match, but I accidentally cheated." The angel rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "It was Arla's sword, Divine. It wasn't restrained due to the monitor glitch, so it had its full power. And I used it."

"I'm sure she knew it was an accident."

"Maybe, but I should go and talk to her to clear things up." Pit left the lobby to find the assassin-ninja. Mario and Link saw that a four free-for-all battle between Olimar, Pichu, Young Link, and Ice Climbers was up in one minute.

"We should probably warn them about what will happen." Mario gave a nod and they left to find the next Smashers.

*Training Room*

Pit entered and found Arla using the sandbag again to train with her sword. Many Smashers knew that this was where Arla usually went to after losing a match.

"Yo, Arla!" She stopped using Divine's powers and turned to him. "Look, I'm really sorry about that last match. I didn't mean to activate Divine like that. I understand that you're probably a bit upset about that-"

"Woah, hold up. What made you think I was upset?" Arla interrupted.

"I mean, you didn't say a word to me after that and you quickly walked out of the room."

"That's what you got out of what I did? Sorry about that. I wasn't upset, I shake off losing matches quickly after letting out some steam here. You actually got me excited after that match?"

"Excited? From losing?" The angel tilted his head, looking even more confused.

"You showed me ways on how I can manipulate my powers instead of simple blasts of elements. Now, I learned to change its form of attack. And you just gave me new ideas for more upgrades to my fighting style. If anything, I should be thanking you." Arla gave a warm smile, showing her appreciation.

"You're welcome?" Pit replied. After they were done conversing, a portal appeared and MH flew through it.

"Ok, I'm back now to fix that monitor," MH said, holding the supplies to fix it.

"Oh, Master Hand, you're back." Pit waved. "Why didn't you tell us that the monitor was broken?"

"Crazy was supposed to announce that."

"He didn't. All that he said was that he was in charge in his 'grand' voice," Arla deadpanned.

"RRRGGGGHHH! CRAZY!" MH quickly rushed out, searching for CH.

"Is it weird that I want to see this?" Pit asked with a mischievous grin.

"Nope, I'm with ya. Come on, I don't want to miss this." Both of them raced out of the training room, excited to see that hilarious moment between the hands.

A/N: Looks like Arla's powers are slowly evolving. Can't wait to see her new upgrades. Anyways, I'm really sorry that this took so long. Schoolwork has been a chore. Since this is Spring Break, I'm able to finish this chapter, don't expect another chapter anytime soon. Creating chapters is hard without the time or creativity to do so, which is why I'm still looking for requests for more one-shot plots before my imagination runs out. Hope you enjoy.


	5. Bonus: Arla's Moveset

**The New Normal Bonus**

**Arla's Moveset**

Name: Arla Nadika

Age: 15

Height: 5'2

Weight: 90 lbs

Appearance (Link to image): jodi23765/art/Arla-Nadika-825631663 (If you can't copy and paste, go to Jodi23765 on Deviantart and find Arla's name)

Taunts:

Up: Twirls her fans in the air and says "Here we go"

Side: Slashes twice and sheaths it and say "Ready when you are"

Down: Flicks her hair then puts her hands on her hips and give a firm nod with a sigh

Standard Moves:

Up: Slashes up with her sword

Side: Slashes to the side; punches and kicks in close range to a player

Down: Ground circle kick to trip people up and give damage

Neutral: Multiple jabs and ends with a backflip kick if players stay in the jab flurry throughout

Air Up: Backflips with Divine in hand

Air Side: Spins in a circle

Air Down: Down kicks with her sword straight down

Charged Up Standard: Sword beam upwards

Charged Side Standard: Two sword beams, two sword slashes and a roundhouse kick if players in close range

Charged Down Standard: Metal fans held by the grapples will come down on the ground on both sides

Smash Attacks:

Up Smash: (Recovery) Grabs the ledge with her grapple, uses her elemental wings if two far away from the ledge or wants to attack a player up high (elemental wings will vary for show)

Side Smash: Throws her both fans and comes back to her taking out players in its path

Down Smash: A counter and activates Razor Mode for a brief time to deal extra damage (timer on the damage ratio score)

Neutral Smash: Send out a sword blast like a laser

Charged Neutral Smash: Send out a powerful sword blast that fits a whole platform level, can also be charged when you attack with Divine in battle and simply press neutral

Grab: From long-range, she uses her grapple; close range, grabs with both hands

Throw:

Up: Player gets thrown upwards and gets hit by both metal fans

Side: Gets launched wheel kick

Down: Gets slammed down with a grapple

Shield: Puts out her fans and crosses her arms in front of her; if she drops her shield the moment an attack hits her, her fans will become a reflect

Dash: Activates her rollerblades

Dodge:

Side Dodge: Backflips out of the way

Down Dodge: Parries an attack both projectile and close range

Air Dodge: Uses her wings quickly to shift direction

Final Smash: Multislash, sends out a barrage of sword beams in any direction you can control then blasts of fire, lightning, earth, and air in any direction of choice too

Victory Poses:

Pose 1: She twirls her sword in her hand then grips it firmly with both feet together standing up straight cheering "Alright!"

Pose 2: She spins with grace then stops down at one knee with a metal fan out covering her mouth saying "That's how it's done"

Pose 3: She puts up her hood and crosses her arms and turns her back to the camera in a shy manner but still looked at it with the corner of her eye giving a small smile under her hood whispering "I did it"

A/N: I wanted to do this so people can understand how she fights in tourney battles in case people lost track of what is at her disposal. After rereading my latest chapter of TNN, I got worried that people might forget how she operates. Outside battles she has her full strength though with her elemental abilities to use at her leisure, but in the tournament, she's only allowed to use the elements in her FS. I hope this cleared some things up for people. Please review any request you would like to share that follows the guidelines.


	6. Love Compatibility

**The New Normal**

"**Love Compatibility"**

"Try Zelda and Marth next," Ness suggested. ROB's eyes flashed green doing his calculations. Currently, Ness, Lucas, Ice Climbers, Toon, Young, Pichu, and Pit were surrounding the robot. ROB recently downloaded a program that tells how compatible two Smashers are together so he can try to understand human feelings through science, his expertise. The eight Smashers asked him for hours about the different combinations between Smashers. The program plus ROB's data on everyone in the mansion gave him his results.

"Compatibility: 90%," ROB replied.

"That's 5% more than Link and Zelda," Pit said surprised since Link and Zelda hang out just about every other day.

"It kind of makes sense since their both royalty," Lucas commented just as both Zelda and Marth conveniently entered and overheard their conversation.

"What was that about royalty?" Marth asked curiously.

"We're trying out ROB's new program that uses data to calculate who you're most compatible with," Ness explained. "Turns out, you and Zelda are more compatible than Link with Zelda."

"As nice of a guy he is, I do not feel that way about him," Zelda confirmed. "You shouldn't try to rely on science to solve every problem, love especially."

"Indeed. Love is very unpredictable with many unexpected variables, some that even a machine can't predict. No offense ROB," Marth explained. "You should stop that before you or anyone else gets any stupid and reckless ideas." Zelda nodded in agreement.

"Alright, maybe after one more pair," Young suggested.

"Let's try an extremely random one. One that no one will expect," Popo said excitedly.

"How about Mario and Arla," Toon Link suggested. ROB's eyes flashed green once again and obtained his results.

"Compatibility: 98%," ROB concluded. Everyone in the room was surprised about the results, even ROB himself.

"Now I know for sure this thing is rigged," Nana believed. "The result is twice as compatible as Mario and Peach."

"You even did Mario and Peach?" Zelda asked with a glare.

"Are you kidding? Those two were the first ones we did," Pit replied. Pichu yelled out his name excitingly in agreement.

"Those two together? That'll be the day," Marth thought out loud. From an unnoticeable distance, Peach overheard their conversation and thought carefully and worriedly.

"_It's alright Peach, it's just a faulty program. Mario couldn't fall for Arla. Right?" _Peach thought. She turned her head and saw Mario and Arla chattering with each other, then the princess looked down again.

*Time Skip*

Peach wandered around the halls again. Then, she walked outside to the front to plant in the garden once again. As she was watering the flowers, she spotted Mario with Arla once again, but they were both wearing rollerblades.

Mario eventually tripped, and Arla rolled towards him and helped him back up. They smiled at each other and continued to skate. Peach looked down at the flowers and realized she was overflowing the plants. She lifted the watering can and looked back to where Mario and Arla were and found that they disappeared.

Marth and Ike walked up and found the patch of flowers Peach watered extremely soggy. The Smashers knew that Peach always treats plants with the utmost care, so it surprised the two swordsmen that Princess Toadstool of all people overflowed the plants.

"Peach spilling in gardening. Something must be up if it got you that distracted," Ike observed.

"I can make mistakes too," Peach snapped back, then looked back to where Mario and Arla once stood.

"Yeah, but you are always strict about taking care of plants. Remember the time you nearly raged out because Red was planting the seeds randomly instead of in a straight line?"

"Alright, fair enough," the princess replied, not looking back at them this time. The two swordsmen looked at each other in confusion then back at her.

"So… you mind telling us what bothered you so much to be inattentive to gardening?" Marth hesitantly asked. Peach took a deep breath before asking.

"Have any of you noticed that Mario has been hanging out more often than usual today?"

"… Perhaps." Marth was even more confused since Peach shouldn't be that worried if another girl decides to simply hang out with him. Then, something clicked in his mind. "Did you overhear the conversation about ROB's new match-making program?" Peach took a step back in shock to realize that she was already caught red-handed.

"What program?" Ike asked.

"ROB downloaded a love program that confirms how compatible two Smashers are together. Apparently, Arla and Mario's compatibility is almost perfect."

"Sounds rigged to me."

"That's what Nana said, and I agree," Peach said with confidence.

"So, you did listen in on us," Marth deducted. Peach confessed with a heavy sigh and put her hands on her hips.

"So what?"

"You shouldn't buy into all that, ROB's only crunching the numbers. It doesn't define who you have to be with, I'm sure Arla understands that too, as well as your feelings toward Mario." Both swordsmen left. Continuing to water the plants properly, Peach was deep in thought, hoping that what Marth said was true.

*Time Skip*

"Zelda, Samus," Peach called out with a timid voice at their table during lunch, a tone she was never known for. She always addressed the two with a cheerful voice. This caught Samus and Zelda's attention.

"This must be big if you're acting like this," Samus bluntly said with her arms crossed. Peach ignored the comment and went straight to the point.

"Do you think Mario is… annoyed with me?" This caught the other two in surprise.

"You overheard the conversation about match-making, didn't you?" Zelda pointed out.

"Am I that obvious?" Peach looked away. She saw Arla at a different table with her head in her palm looking down. Mario walked to the teenager and put his hand on Arla's shoulder. Arla looked up and faintly smiled at the plumber before he sat at a different table with Olimar and Pikachu. Peach turned her head back to her friends.

"You were never bothered when I or Samus hung out with Mario, and you never asked us why we hung out with him. But now, you're asking about Mario's feelings towards you since he's hanging with Arla? That means you're bothered by it," Zelda analyzed. Peach huffed in annoyance before Samus gave her input.

"Look Peach, let me ask you this. You like Mario right?"

"Of course."

"You know everyone here knows you two are dating, even Bowser, right?"

"Yes, he stopped bothering me since it became official."

"You know Arla knows about you and Mario's relationship."

"Yes." Peach was slightly confused about where this was going.

"Then, do you think Arla would even try to hit on Mario just to screw with you?"

"… No."

"Exactly, you two are friends, and she understands your feelings. Don't be so uptight with her because of some data saying they are likely the best combinations." Samus was right, and Peach finally realized it too. After that talk, the pink princess left with a smile and weight off her shoulders. Then, Zelda turned to Samus with a smirk.

"When did you become an expert at girl talk?"

"No idea, and don't care." After lunch, Samus stood up, did a few stretches, and went to the training room with her suit on.

*Late Afternoon*

Peach was ready to go back to her room. When she turned down a corner, she saw Mario and Arla talking again. Then, she saw the red plumber hand Arla something. It was a shine sprite necklace. The same necklace she gave Mario during their last date at Delfino Plaza. Arla gave a grin and hugged Mario, and he hugged her back. That was the final straw for Peach, and she marched over to the two with a flushed and angered face. Mario and Arla looked at her in confusion about what she could be so angry about. When Peach approached the duo…

(SLAP!)

Peach just slapped Arla hard across the face, leaving a pink mark on the teen's face. Both Mario and Arla were shocked at what happened to even speak, Arla putting her hand on the point of impact.

"What the hell, Arla?!" Peach started with a shout. "I thought we were friends! All of a sudden, you decide to waltz up to Mario acting innocent enough to have him fall for you. No!"

"H-huh?! W-What?!" Arla stuttered quietly, still extremely confused about what is going on.

"Why would you manipulate my feelings like this?!" She then turned to Mario. "If you were going to dump me, at least say it to my face."

"I can explain!" Mario said, but Peach wouldn't listen. She grabbed the shine sprite necklace out of Arla's hands harshly and made her exit around the corner once again. Mario and Arla stood in silence. Mario turned to Arla to find her on the brink of tears, trying to figure out what happened while holding her wound.

"Arla, there should be some light healing items in the infirmary. Help yourself to some of them. I'll talk to Peach." Arla responded with a hesitant slow nod, still too shocked and emotionally hurt.

*Peach's Room*

"(Knock Knock) Peach, it's Mario. We need to talk." No response came from her room. Mario tried to turn the knob to find that it was locked. Having enough of her stubbornness, Mario prepares a flaming fist and knocks the door down. He saw Peach sitting on her bed facing away from the destroyed door. Her head tilted a bit to the left, realizing what happened. "I'll ask Game&Watch to fix the door." Peach didn't respond and turned her head completely down in front of her.

"Why would you do that to me?" Peach questioned with a saddened voice.

"Did you actually think I would fall for Arla that easily, after all the years you and I spent together?" Peach made no effort to speak. Mario continued. "What made you think I would love Arla over you?" Peach took a deep breath and began to explain about what she overheard from the children Smashers and about ROB's love program.

"And you actually believe all that?" Peach clenched her fists in frustrating conflict, but Mario already knew the answer. "You should know, heck almost everyone in the mansion should know, that science and love never mix."

"Yes, but from what I saw today, I had my doubts. You've been hanging out with Arla almost all day."

"So? I hung out with other women before for that long, and you never had a problem with that."

"But the way you showed your kindness, it looked more soft and caring than usual. I saw you skating with her, you put your hand on her shoulder in a gentle way, and you gave away my necklace which was a gift to you from me." Mario finally heard what Peach's perspective was in all of this and gave a heavy sigh.

"Arla asked me not to tell anyone, but after what you did, you need to know." Mario sat down. "Arla said that she was planning to visit her sister today, but a massive disease called COVID-19, aka coronavirus, has the entire city she lives in under quarantine. She came back immediately near the end of breakfast on the same morning. I came up to her and asked what was wrong and explained the situation to me, and she stayed glum ever since." Peach listened intently as Mario continued.

"I told her that we could spend some time to get her mind off of the whole ordeal, and she decided to pick roller skating as our activity. Apparently, it's a lot harder to control than ice skating because of all the friction." Peach began to recall seeing Mario in rollerblades earlier with Arla and her usual skates.

"After that, she said that she wanted a few matches to blow off more steam. Unfortunately, she lost three one-on-one matches in a row against Olimar, Ganondorf, and Jigglypuff. So, I tried to comfort her at lunch, but she said she wanted to be left alone. Finally, there was me giving the necklace. You told me before that it was labeled as a lucky charm in Delfino Plaza. I was letting Arla borrow it for the day to get rid of her bad luck." Once the plumber finished explaining, Peach stared at him with wide eyes and her mouth covered with one hand in shock. She didn't even consider the possibility that Arla was having a rough day and needed comfort.

"I'm so sorry, Mario. I didn't know what was going on. The paranoia from ROB's program really did make me jump too far to conclusions," Peach apologized with her head down. Mario held her hands with serenity, and Peach looked back up.

"Princess, you know I will always forgive you, especially once you understand your actions. But, someone else deserves that apology more than I do, and she might need more than simply words right now."

"Of course." Peach immediately got up and went on the search for Arla. Outside the room, Pit and Ness overheard most of the argument since the door was smashed.

"So that's what Marth meant when he said 'reckless ideas'," Ness whispered, which Pit simply nodded in agreement before both of them walked away, pretending it never happened.

*That Night*

Arla was relaxing on the Mansion roof once again, stargazing. She often visits the top when she needs to clear her mind, especially after what happened in the afternoon. So far, no matter how much serenity she has now, it's not clearing her thoughts anytime soon. With a deep breath, she got up and dusted herself off to head back down.

As she turned around, Arla flinched in shock when she found Peach standing at the trapdoor she came through. Arla took a step back but missed her footing and tripped backward, but she used her grapple in time to regain her balance. She looked back up and the two ladies were in a moment of silence.

"So?" Both said in unison.

"You first," Arla mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the princess. Peach said nothing, rather instead, she walked up to the teenager and slowly gave her a tight hug. Arla simply stood speechlessly, muscles stiffened with shock.

"I'm sorry," Peach began. "Mario explained your situation to me. I didn't know you had such a rough day. I got paranoid and upset because something happened that confirmed you and Mario were a perfect match for each other. But, I should have known better."

"Was that what this whole thing's about?" Arla realized. "Don't worry, I forgive you. You should've known by now that I wouldn't do that to spite you. I know your relationship with Mario, and he and I will always be simply friends and nothing more. Besides, I don't plan on generally going that far in the first place anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Romantic relationships. I don't plan on going to that level. It's not you, it's me."

"Why? Love is a beautiful thing to experience."

"Platonic love, yes. Romance is just so complicated and difficult to handle from what I've seen. When someone finds their love, there are so many twists and turns, ups and downs, even more than life itself. My life has been so simplistic and straightforward, even with an adventurous life in the Smash World, and I intend to keep it like this." Arla sat back down with Peach this time and laid on her back with her hands behind her head. Peach simply chuckled at her sense of love.

"That's what I said a long time before I met Mario. You just haven't found the right guy yet. Trust me, you'll change your mind once you find him." Arla rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Now you sound like my mom when I recently talked to her about this same topic. But, we'll see." They stared at the stars with Arla finally finding her peace. Peach decided on one last topic change.

"So, about your world. What's coronavirus?"

"Oh, did Mario mention that too? Well, it's basically an amplified version of the flu that can reach deadly levels, which is why everyone has to stay in their homes now. But, no way will I stay in my little apartment for who knows how long. Looks like I'll be staying in this world for a while."

"Then, how about tomorrow, we hang by the mall again?"

"Peach, you know I don't do window shopping."

"Please~" Arla turned to her and found Peach looking at her with puppy dog eyes. Relaxing her body in defeat, she answered.

"Fine. I ain't got anything better to do." Both of them got up and went down the trapdoor to get sleep for a long day of shopping again.

A/N: Little reference to the coronavirus there. I'm trapped in my home too for the time being and still have schoolwork which is why my uploads are taking a while. Plus, slow inspiration. This might be the only love chapter I'll do since I'm not good at love topics. Also, sorry if this chapter is a bit sad because again, slow inspiration. Hope you enjoyed, and stay safe everyone.


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